WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump said he would pardon again on Wednesday January 6 rioters If he wins the 2024 election, he repeatedly lies about what happened during the violent attack on the US Capitol that injured more than 140 police officers.
“Oh, I absolutely would. If they were innocent, I would pardon them,” Trump said during a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists on Wednesday. “They were convicted by a very strict system.”
More than 1,400 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, and prosecutors have secured more than 1,000 convictions on charges ranging from unlawful parading to seditious conspiracy. Hundreds of cases are still pending and more arrests are expected before the five-year statute of limitations expires in early 2026, but all of the January 6 incidents are theoretically brought it to an end if Trump wins and his appointees take over the Department of Justice.
Trump called the January 6 rioters “warriors”.incredible patriots“political prisoners and”pledges.” Senior US Judge Royce Lamberth, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan and has overseen numerous trials related to the Capitol attack, said he was shocked by the verdict. “unwise“The rhetoric about convicted felons that Republicans regularly use about the January 6th rioters. “I can’t remember a time in my thirty-seven years on the bench that has given such an unwarranted justification for criminal activity,” Lambert said this year.
Asked Wednesday by ABC News’ Rachel Scott about his plans for the Jan. 6 riots, Trump said what he was up to last week when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu falsely claimed there had been a “horrific attack on the Capitol” when he spoke to Congress. . This is not true: Police successfully removed pro-Palestinian demonstrators from the Capitol.
Trump appeared to be referring to the protests in Columbus County by Union StationProtesters burned flags, spray-painted a 1912 statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus and a 49-year-old replica of the Liberty Bell and attacked officers. He is seen being dragged from behind by the collar while trying to arrest an officer. Ten people were arrested, and the US Park Police were arrested seeker The identities of six others, including assaults on officers and vandalism of federal property.
Trump claimed that the spray paint on the monuments, which he said were false in the Capitol, would “actually never come off, especially on limestone” and that the paint would be visible on the stone “for 100 years.”
When an NBC News reporter visited Columbus Circle on Tuesday, cleanup efforts appeared to be effective, although some remnants of the vandalism remained around the site. Trump’s claims of permanent damage to the monument are dubious: the monument, which few visitors realize is dedicated to Columbus — has routinely fallen into disrepair and neglect, and the National Park Service noted In 2016, the statue had already been “painted to hide the growing discoloration”. This is not the first time that the monument has been spray painted – as far back as 1991, the Columbus Fountain hit with red paint and “500 years of genocide“graffiti.
When Scott directly asked Trump whether he would pardon the rioters who attacked officers with flagpoles and dragged them down the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6, Trump did not respond and instead went on to talk about the officer who shot and killed one person. January 6 rioter.
“They shot a young lady in the face that was protesting,” Trump said, referring to Ashley Babbitt, who was shot and killed while jumping from a broken window leading to the House Speaker’s lobby as members of Congress fled the crowd. He tries to enter his ward’s room. The black officer who shot and killed Babbitt was subjected to racist attacks and threats after the shooting, saying he only shot him.as a last resort” After law enforcement barricaded the doors with every piece of furniture they could find.
“You went after the J6 people with a vengeance,” Trump said Wednesday, before repeating a conspiracy theory that the officers “got everybody into the Capitol.” In fact, the officers in the Capitol were overwhelmed by the hostile crowd A lifelong Republican officer testifies in the latest trial The scene he saw at the Capitol was unlike anything he had encountered in his decades of law enforcement.
Trump claimed that there are “two systems of justice” and that he is facing it Criminal charges related to January 6 and because efforts to nullify the 2020 elections were targeted because of politics, not because of their own actions.
“We’re going to win our cases and we’re going to be acquitted, but I’m going to have to spend a lot of time and money, that’s what they want,” Trump said. “They won’t care after the election … although in my case, they probably will because the hatred runs deep.”
Trump’s trial on efforts to stop a peaceful transfer of power lie Due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, the results of the election will not be until after the November elections. This verdict of the court is likely to weaken special prosecutor Jack Smith on January 6 case Against Trump.
The former president’s comments came the same day the Justice Department announced three new cases against the defendants on Jan. 6.
Michael Keith Williams On Jan. 6, he was arrested in Texas, where authorities said he “attacked the Capitol while carrying a banner depicting then-President Donald Trump as “Rambo.” He confronted officers outside the Capitol and “aggressively waived a large Trump flag at officers for several minutes,” which they said helped prevent officers from advancing and hindered the effectiveness of the chemical irritants officers used to detain the supporter. The Trump crowd in the Gulf.
Paul Marvin Nowell Arrested in North Carolina, authorities said he approached a police line on the west side of the US Capitol wearing a black paintball mask, then yelled “You’re not an American” at officers and refused police commands to stand back before being pushed away. against officers’ shields.
Jason Robert Tasker He was arrested in Arizona, and authorities cornered officers outside the Capitol, chanting, “You’re all fired, go home!” He found another way into the building, then confronted officers inside the Capitol, before attacking officers during two confrontations and attempting to arrest two officers during a struggle with police, prosecutors said, later bragging about his actions in a phone call on the steps of the Capitol.
“I was like the first person in my mother,” Tasker noted.